Advice for an allotment newbie

[Scarlet]

Yes I agree^^^^ but generally blokes like rows....are you a girl Bario?

[bario1]

I'm just sensitive. And I grow in rows myself!

[Jungle Jane]

For an early harvest next spring you could take a piece of land that's bare,sow meteor peas or broad beans the Sutton anytime this month & cover with a bit of netting to keep mice out (careful birds can't get stuck in there). Then you won't need to touch that piece of land until you chop the plants down around June. Uses up space to grow food instead of leaving the ground unoccupied,plus they're good plants for the soil,sweetcorn would like going in when the peas are finished. I don't have edges round my beds,when I plant things I try & leave puddle areas near the plants,a depression in the soil so water puddles instead of running away,or you could put a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off into the soil so the necks sticking out & water into the bottle,good for cucumber so the stem doesn't get wet.

[1Bee]

*cracks knuckles* Oooh, I love this one. Congratulations on the birth of your third child!

Yes, don't panic! This is a slow and steady path, not a race. Gardening with kids is fabulous. But also insanely frustrating! I have two boys under 7, both of whom are what is termed 'a handful'. We adopted them both when they were two (not at the same time, LOL!) so I don't have experience of the baby stage. But I have spent many hours holding the hand of a 2yo while wandering round the site pointing out sheds and wondering if Grandad Tumble lived there...

For me, the secret was accepting what I couldn't do (anything that requires daily visits, lots of weeding, lots of maintenance of paths) and loving what I could. Can you spot times in your routine when you can 'escape' to your plot? Now I'm back at work I tend to go early on the two mornings I don't do school drop off, and go on to work after. At the weekend I'll take one or other of the boys (taking both is fun, but not if I need to get anything done) for an hour or two. Can you time your visits for just before baby nap time and take the pram? Or do you baby carry?

I do a lot of covering with cardboard or weed membrane (or both) and then planting through. I have divided my plot into beds with paths between simply because that way they children can clearly see where it's okay to walk. My paths are made from cardboard, with weed membrane pegged over.
They're not pretty, but they're low maintenance, easily movable, and clear to use. Courgettes, pumpkins etc don't take much looking after, and do very well planted through a mulch like this.

Make a bean teepee and line the inside to make a den.

Keep a patch of ground bare and let the kids make mud pies.

Always have a first aid kit and a second nappy bag at the site (if you have storage). Later on, add a potty.

Don't obsess about stingies and pricklies and children... trust me, they soon start noticing and identifying them!

Peas and broad beans are brilliant in multiple ways. Easy for little fingers to sow, quick to grow, don't get stepped on, fun to pick, nice to eat, AND podding them is an activity that will keep even neurologically diverse, hyperactive, sensory seeking and hard-to-handle kids like mine occupied in happiness. I would grow them just for that bit.

My Husband doesn't come to the plot much. A couple of weekends in spring I drag him out to do some heavy digging for me.

Basically, carve out 'bits' of time; cover everything you can; mark out your paths, and only work on the space you can manage, the rest will wait.

Enjoy!

[cabbagepatchkid]

Being a newbie myself (we got a half plot 11m ago), I won't even attempt to advise on the allotment growing side of things! However, having 4 tiddlers under 4 years of age ( 3 x 3.5yo and a 3mo baby) I have some experience with the logistics of finding the time for the old lottie which may or may not be helpful!

- I carry the baby in a wrap; he loves it and will sleep 95% of the time; I can do pretty much anything with him wrapped
- the bigger boys come with me twice a week, anything more than that and they get bored (unless there's lots of stuff to harvest, that will keep them happy for ages)
- give the kids specific tasks to keep them occupied - mine love watering (and given the amount of water kiddie cans hold, this job lasts a while!), digging for worms in unused areas and transplanting them into growing beds, weeding, chucking stuff into the compost bin, dibbing holes for seedlings...pretty much anything. We even had a competition to see who can get the most rocks out of a growing bed.
- I go to the allotment (with the baby) while the bigger boys are at preschool; some days I have to work or do other stuff, but it averages to 1h per day during the week and then a couple more hours during the weekend; some days I fit a bit more in and in summer I can also go in the evenings when kids are in bed
- seeds that are not sown directly are started at home in a plastic greenhouse on the balcony (we are in a flat) rather than having a greenhouse on the lottie
- go to the allotment with a plan - I keep a rolling list of stuff that needs doing on my phone - before I started the list I could waste a lot of time doing random useless things like re-arranging pots and sorting bamboo poles by size

Hope some of that is useful, and have fun!

[WeeGarden]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply...
I finally managed to get up to the plot and with the help of a friend's son, have managed to get most of the beds laid out - we are 3/4 of the way there! I would upload a pic but it's been too long since I've used Vbulletin so will have to have a rummage for instructions on how to upload. ☺️

[bikermike]

As the dad of a two-and-three-quarter year old who took over his allotment 3 years ago, I'm just about learning the key thing is patience.

I would see about putting in some raspberry canes (and the like) this winter (if you want them). Oh, and start a compost heap if you can (leaves, and veg peelings if nothing else)

What are the rules for the plot? beyond getting in some long-term stuff like fruit plants in, I'd not worry much about doing anything apart from enough to avoid getting thrown off the plot. It'll still be there next year.
I put a line of spuds (chitted supermarket ones) in in April (just above the standing water in the ground) in order to show I was cultivating, and then did what/when I could.

spuds are pretty much indestructible, and turn the soil

[WeeGarden]

And thanks 1Bee and Cabbagepatchkid! You've inspired me so much!

[bikermike]

oh, and marestail is a sod, but it's not the end of the world, just dig it out (and burn/rot it separately) as you find it and don't be to aggressive with rotivators etc to avoid spreading it

[WeeGarden]

As the dad of a two-and-three-quarter year old who took over his allotment 3 years ago, I'm just about learning the key thing is patience.

I would see about putting in some raspberry canes (and the like) this winter (if you want them). Oh, and start a compost heap if you can (leaves, and veg peelings if nothing else)

What are the rules for the plot? beyond getting in some long-term stuff like fruit plants in, I'd not worry much about doing anything apart from enough to avoid getting thrown off the plot. It'll still be there next year.
I put a line of spuds (chitted supermarket ones) in in April (just above the standing water in the ground) in order to show I was cultivating, and then did what/when I could.

spuds are pretty much indestructible, and turn the soil

Thanks Mike. I think I was just panicking when every time I went up, weeds would have taken over the area I weeded.

I'm excited now, rather than panicking, about growing for next season!

[bikermike]

good luck!

I had great success with mulch (woodchip) to keep weeds down, also consider green manure?
also, if you have any grassed areas, they will get less weeds in them than dug areas
basically, try to cover any ground you have weeded - ideally with plants, but mulch/covers are a good second.

[WeeGarden]

Thank you all for your advice. I've had about 3 days of blitzing and everything is done! I will evangelise about no dig method now.

Ordered in a truckload of woodchip, got cardboard and weed suppressant. Cardboard on beds, dug out the compost on the paths and put on top of cardboard, weed suppressant membrane on paths then woodchip. Did half the plot in one day back in November. Covered over the remainder with cardboard for the winter.

Monday, went and built two wooden raised beds - putting raspberries in the large one as most of my canes died over winter due to water logging. Put up some stakes for hybrid berry support.

Ordered in 4 builders bags of topsoil/compost mix and went up with hubby today to set out the other half of the plot to pile the soil into the beds.

3 days were all it took!!! (With help )

Off to find out how to upload a pic....

[WeeGarden]

Hope this works!

[veggiechicken]

That's amazing, WeeG. Fantastic job Well done.